Chapter 224: Naming and Going to War

Time: April 12th.

Mission: Travel a thousand miles across the border and kill any barbarians you encounter without mercy.

The entire military order only contains these sixteen words.

The meaning is very clear, which is to let Yang Zhengshan lead the Anyuan City garrison camp to go out of the country to fight against the Hu people.

There was no detailed plan, no specific marching route, and no rigid orders, only the requirement to kill without mercy.

Of course, this battle will definitely be judged by the number of beheadings. How much merit Yang Zhengshan can gain depends entirely on himself.

As for the rest, that is not something Yang Zhengshan needs to worry about.

Such an expedition plan may seem unreliable, but it is actually the best plan to deal with the Hu people in the East China Sea.

Because the Hu people in the East China Sea are thousands of miles away from the Great Wall and have no fixed place to live, it is very difficult to find all their settlements.

The Darong Dynasty has been unable to completely eliminate the Donghai Hu tribe for three hundred years because it is difficult for them to find all the settlements of the Donghai Hu tribe.

Now Lu Chongde and Liang Chu ordered a large number of garrison camps in Chongshan Town to leave the country, split up into small groups, and use dozens of garrison camps to sweep thousands of miles outside the pass. In this way, all the tribes of the Donghai Hu tribe can be found as much as possible.

Of course, there are risks involved.

The garrison battalion has at most about a thousand soldiers. If it faces a slightly larger tribe, it may suffer heavy losses or even be wiped out.

But then again, this is an opportunity for all the defenders to make meritorious service.

An opportunity to lead troops into battle alone is extremely rare for a garrison.

Especially for Yang Zhengshan, he really didn't expect that he would have the opportunity to lead troops to fight alone so soon.

With such an opportunity, how much military merit can the Anyuan City Garrison Battalion gain?

"Han Fei, immediately call all officials above the rank of 100 households to a meeting!"

Time was running out, and Yang Zhengshan summoned all the military officers above the rank of centurion under the garrison office as soon as he received the military order.

The military order requires leaving the country on April 12, and today is April 8, which means they have less than four days.

As evening approached, groups of people arrived on horseback.

At nightfall, the lobby of the garrison hall was already full of people. Yang Zhengshan sat in the main seat, while Han Fei, Xie Yuan and other military officers stood quietly in the hall.

The atmosphere in the lobby was very quiet. Although Yang Zhengshan had not spoken yet, everyone had already guessed it.

When everyone arrived, Yang Zhengshan glanced at them, stood up, and said, "I just received a military order from the Lieutenant General's Office. The Lieutenant General's Office ordered my garrison to go out on the twelfth day of the first lunar month to attack the Donghai Hu tribe!"

"In two days, I will lead the garrison battalion to go out. After I leave, all matters concerning the garrison office will require your concerted efforts to ensure that nothing goes wrong!"

"Xie Yuan!" Yang Zhengshan's gaze fell on Xie Yuan.

"The subordinate is here!"

Xie Yuan responded quickly.

"After I go to war, you will temporarily take charge of the garrison office. Is there any problem?" Yang Zhengshan asked.

"No! I will definitely live up to your trust!" Xie Yuan said firmly.

No one was surprised by this arrangement, because Yang Zhengshan had been preparing for it since last year, and Xie Yuan had often come to Anyuan City during this period to familiarize himself with the affairs of the garrison office.

Yang Zhengshan nodded slightly, "Yang Minghao!"

"The subordinate is here!"

"From now on, you will be responsible for the defense of Anyuan City. No matter what happens, you must ensure that there is no chaos in Anyuan City and that Anyuan City cannot be lost!"

"Even if it means dying in battle, I will not hesitate!"

Yang Zhengshan looked at Yang Minghao with sharp eyes.

On the surface, this was for the sake of duty. As a garrison commander, the most important thing was to defend the city. But in reality, this was to ensure the safety of the Yang family. The Yang family was in Anyuan City. If Anyuan City was lost, the Yang family would be the first to bear the brunt.

So he handed over the city defense to Yang Minghao.

"I obey your command!" Yang Minghao replied with his head down.

Yang Zhengshan nodded and looked at Wu Chongzhe again, "The garrison office has two major things to do next. The first is city defense, and the second is spring plowing and farming!"

"Sir Wu, farming is our foundation. I don't need to explain its importance!"

"Master Xie will be in charge of the garrison office affairs, so I will leave the matter of spring ploughing to you!"

Wu Chongzhe hesitated a little, "Sir, why don't you take me to the battlefield as well?"

He wanted to go to the battlefield. Now that the Wu family has returned to officialdom, it is time for them to make achievements. He still hopes that he can make achievements and get promoted.

Yang Zhengshan shook his head slightly, "Just follow orders, it definitely won't work this time!"

He understood Wu Chongzhe's thoughts and did not mind Wu Chongzhe having such an idea, but he could not take Wu Chongzhe to fight.

Wu Chongzhe was the defense officer of Shaling Fort. As the name suggested, his duty was defense.

It's okay to let him take charge of the garrison officer's affairs temporarily, but it's not okay to let him go into battle with the garrison camp.

Wu Chongzhe nodded somewhat disappointedly, "I obey your orders!"

"There will be opportunities in the future!" Yang Zhengshan smiled and patted his shoulder.

After arranging matters at the garrison, Yang Zhengshan looked at Han Cheng, Song Dashan and Yang Mingzhen again.

"Tomorrow all soldiers in the garrison camp will have a day off. Go home and spend time with your families and say goodbye properly!"

There is no mercy on the battlefield, and no one knows whether they can come back.

Perhaps this meeting is our final farewell.

Before going to the battle, Yang Zhengshan hoped that the soldiers could have a good meeting with their families to avoid any regrets!

"Your Excellency is so kind! I would like to thank you on behalf of all the soldiers in the garrison camp!"

Han Cheng stepped forward and clasped his fists in thanks.

Yang Zhengshan waved his hand and asked everyone to disperse.

The necessary preparations had been made long ago, and this meeting was just to confirm the arrangements. Soon everyone dispersed, and Yang Zhengshan did not keep them to eat, but took a short break and returned to the backyard.

He also decided to spend some time with Yu Qingyi these two days.

When he returned to the main courtyard, Yu Qingyi was standing at the door looking out.

"My husband is going to war!"

Seeing Yang Zhengshan, Yu Qingyi asked anxiously.

"Ok!"

Yang Zhengshan stepped forward and supported her, his eyes falling on her slightly bulging belly.

"It's cold outside, let's go back inside and talk!"

Yu Qingyi couldn't hide the worry on her face.

After entering the house, Yang Zhengshan could only comfort her: "Don't worry, your husband may not be a veteran of many battles, but it's not his first time on the battlefield!"

"I will return safely!"

"But I'm still worried!" Yu Qingyi's eyes were slightly red.

Even though she is gentle on the outside but strong on the inside, she couldn't help herself when faced with such a thing.

"Why, you don't have confidence in your husband?" Yang Zhengshan held her in his arms and gently stroked her belly.

"Even if it's just for this child, I will return safely."

"I'm sorry to wrong you. I probably won't be able to be with you when the child is born!"

Yu Qingyi leaned in his arms, holding him tightly with both hands.

Seeing that she was in a low mood, Yang Zhengshan changed the subject and said, "Why don't I give the child a name first!"

"Yeah!" Yu Qingyi said softly.

Yang Zhengshan thought for a moment and said, "If it's a daughter, then I'll call her Yang Yunmeng. If it's a son, then I'll call her..."

When it came to the boy's name, Yang Zhengshan paused.

There are many male members of the Ming generation in the Yang family, and it seems that all the names he thought of have been taken.

It’s easier to name girls. Many girls in the countryside are called Daya or Erya, so their names are Yang Daya or Yang Erya. So it’s much easier to name girls.

But this boy's name?
Yang Zhengshan really couldn't think of a nice one for a while.

"How about you think of a name for your son?"

"Let the master think about it!" Yu Qingyi refused without even thinking.

Yang Zhengshan could only ponder.

Mingzhe, Mingyu, Minghui, Mingzhen, Minglei...

These seem to be occupied.

There are countless people with the same name in this world, but it is not good to have the same name within the same clan.

"Or just call me Yang Mingzhao!"

"Ming Zhao! Ming Zhao!" Yu Qingyi muttered softly, touching her belly unconsciously, "This is a good name!"

Yang Zhengshan saw that her expression had eased a lot, and he felt a little more relaxed.

For the next two days, Yang Zhengshan stayed with Yu Qingyi.

Until the early morning of April 12th.

At daybreak, more than a thousand soldiers from the garrison camp had gathered outside the north gate of Anyuan City.

Three hundred and fifty cavalrymen, two hundred armored infantrymen, and nearly six hundred cotton-armored infantrymen.

These are all the troops under Yang Zhengshan’s command.

The reason why the number of cavalrymen became 350 was that last month the Yang family horse farm sold another 50 high-quality war horses to the garrison office.

Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi said goodbye to each other reluctantly, and after giving Yang Mingcheng some instructions, he rode to the city gate.

At this time, outside the city gate, in addition to the soldiers of the garrison camp, there were also Xu Jin and Lin Shoude who came to see them off.

"Master Yang, I wish you every victory in this battle!"

Xu Jin brought a pot of wine to Yang Zhengshan and poured a glass for Yang Zhengshan and Lin Shoude respectively.

Yang Zhengshan picked up the wine glass with a smile and drank it.

"My two lords, please wait for my victory report!"

After saying this, he jumped on his horse and rode away.

The army behind them followed, and the team of more than a thousand people stretched for several miles, moving northward like a long dragon.

When the garrison camp goes to war, no civilian laborers are conscripted; all logistical support needs to be taken care of by the soldiers of the garrison camp themselves.

There were more than a hundred carriages in the team, loaded with soldiers' weapons, armor and food.

For example, armored infantrymen must not wear armor while marching, otherwise they would be exhausted to death before they even leave the border.

However, if it was just for loading weapons and food, there was actually no need for so many carriages. The reason why Yang Zhengshan brought so many carriages was to make it easier to set up camp.

With more than a hundred carriages, they can be placed on the periphery when setting up camp at night to prevent cavalry from attacking the camp.

To put it simply, these carriages can be used as barricades.

In addition, if there are any spoils, they can also pull them back to avoid having to destroy them on the spot because they cannot be taken away.

From this point, we can see how greedy Yang Zhengshan is.

When he went to war, he not only wanted to kill the enemy and gain merit, but also wanted to take the opportunity to make a fortune.

While everyone else was thinking about how to save their lives on the dangerous battlefield, Yang Zhengshan was the only one thinking about getting rich from the spoils.

(End of this chapter)